One giant leap for womankind! On June 16, 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to go into space.

Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space

Valentina Tereshkova signs autographs, 1963

Tereshkova became a celebrity in her country as she's seen here signing autographs during a press conference in her honor. It would be another 19 years before the next woman would go into space. After her historic journey, Tereshkova went on to study at the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy and graduated with distinction as a cosmonaut engineer. After that, she also earned a doctorate in engineering in 1977.